Mental Health

Mental Health Concerns

This page provides a framework for thinking about mental health and mental health concerns.  It also offers links to information about common concerns and strategies for enhancing wellbeing. 

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Labels Don't Capture the Complexity of Real Life Experience

Mental health is often talked about as if a person is either “okay mentally” or “mentally ill.” But most people’s experience is more complicated than that.

For example, someone might …

  • Be feeling okay, but recognize that stress could take its toll over time if they don’t take steps to care for their emotional wellbeing
  • Appear “high functioning” while quietly struggling
  • Have few symptoms associated with a psychiatric disorder yet feel worn down, disconnected, angry, or just plain blah
  • Experience anxiety or depression, yet still have moments when they laugh and feel connected to others
  • Stay on top of all responsibilities but feel panicky at the idea of going very long without a drink or a hit or a pill
  • Not meet criteria for a diagnosis, yet have the feeling that something’s wrong
  • Be coolly competent at work and constantly blowing up at home

Thriving, Languishing, & Everything In Between

Photorealistic triptych showing the same person at three emotional states -- thriving, neutral, and languishing -- used to illustrate the mental health continuum. The thriving image shows the person smiling and interacting outdoors under a sunny sky; the neutral image shows them observing others without engaging; the languishing image shows them alone in the rain under a gray sky. Ideal for articles on emotional wellbeing, mental health, or psychological resilience.The concepts of thriving and languishing are helpful when considering mental health. People can thrive or languish, regardless of whether they have a diagnosable psychiatric condition.

When someone is thriving, they feel alive and connected to others. They regularly find meaning and satisfaction from their life, even when things are hard.

When someone is languishing, they tend to have little energy or motivation. Their emotions may be dulled. It may seem like they are not fully present in their own life. Connections to others are strained – or practically nonexistent. Most days are a struggle.

You might recognize yourself in one of these descriptions – or maybe somewhere in between. Many people move back and forth along this spectrum over time, especially during periods of chronic stress, caregiving, loss, or major life transitions.

The Mental is Partly Physical

Thoughts, emotions, and moods don’t just exist in some mysterious space called “the mind.” They are felt through the body and shaped by physical processes like breathing, muscle tension, heart rate, and the production of neurotransmitters and other chemical messengers. 

Your brain and the rest of your nervous system are impacted by the quality of your sleep, hormones, physical pain, and the substances you ingest or are exposed to. 

It’s harder to maintain emotional balance when your body is depleted, overstimulated, or under chronic strain – no matter how many coping skills you’ve developed and how much insight you have.  So, it’s important to recognize the interconnection of mind and body – and how taking care of one enhances the wellbeing of the other.

Your Mental Health

How Are You Doing?

Watch this video to help you consider your mental wellbeing. 

Learn More

(Note: HealAce is still under constructions.  Links to some items not available yet.) 

Mental Health Basics

Understanding Experiences

Coping and Support

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